ABC’s Jonathan Karl is usually the lone voice of reason at ABC News, but every now and then he reveals his liberal partisanship and will take a cheap shot at Republicans.

Appearing as a guest on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Karl claimed that “Ted Cruz is so hated among his Republicans…he’s going to need a food taster.” [See video below.]

Karl’s comments came in response to a discussion about the most recent debt ceiling increase in which the ABC news reporter argued that if it failed to pass Congress it would be the Texas Republican’s fault:

And Ted Cruz does this thing. The Republicans in the Senate have this all set. This was going to be able to pass with only Democratic votes. He stands up and says I'm going to filibuster, something that needs 60 votes.

Karl went on to say that Cruz is “so hated among his Republicans. Now more so than even during the shutdown.” By implying that Cruz will need a taste tester for his food, was Karl suggesting that Republicans are somehow evil poisoners looking to harm Cruz? One would hope that a senior reporter for ABC News wouldn’t stoop to such levels as to suggest that the GOP is out to harm Senator Cruz but he made no effort to clarify his remarks.

To no one’s surprise, the liberal host George Stephanopoulos failed to challenge Karl for his disgusting comments, and instead laughed, even chiming in that Ted Cruz “does have a high tolerance for personal pain inside of his caucus.” I guess this is what liberals consider an intellectually stimulating political conversation these days.

See relevant transcript below.

ABC

This Week with George Stephanopoulos

February 16, 2014

10:19 a.m. Eastern

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I thought "The New York Times" had an excellent analysis of this whole dynamic this week when they talked about the vote no, hope yes caucus. John Karl's right, the leadership voted for this, but only 28 Republicans voted for this. When the majority of the party knows this must pass and believe it should pass and that is a real sign of some kind of dysfunction.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: Which makes it the fewest members of a majority to ever vote for a piece of legislation since 1991 when we have the first record filing. So this is huge. I think the question for Republicans becomes how then this plays out in the mid-term elections? Right? Can Boehner prove that taking a moderate chance, that showing some ability to get things done, is actually what the party needs to secure in order to secure the votes that they need to take back the Senate?

JONATHAN KARL: And Ted Cruz does this thing. The Republicans in the Senate have this all set. This was going to be able to pass with only Democratic votes. He stands up and says I'm going to filibuster, something that needs 60 votes. I’ll tell you, Ted Cruz is so hated among his Republicans. Now more so than even during the shutdown, at that Tuesday lunch they have every Tuesday, he's going to need a food taster. He put tough votes for these guys to take—

STEPHANOPOULOS: He does have a high tolerance for personal pain inside of his caucus.